Prophecy V2
by Myra the Sark
Summary: A re-telling of season-1, with some major plot changes. What if Team Core-Tech had been raised in the same place, away from their real parents, and none of their enemies knew they existed...except one of them, who became separated? And when their four caretakers vanish without a trace...? It will mostly be the same, but there will be one HUGE difference, and multiple smaller ones.
1. Prologue, Part I

The sky was a wolf-gray color, and rain came down at a steady pace, with occasional flashes of lightning and rumblings of thunder.

A woman wearing a white jacket with emerald hems kept a sharp watch on the house. More importantly, she was waiting for one of the house's two inhabitants to leave the room—to leave the other, her target, unattended.

Finally, after ensuring the boy was asleep, the father left the room. The woman moved forward silently, opening the window. The sound and the rain drops hitting his face woke the boy, and he stared at her with wide eyes.

The woman smiled. "Hello Chase," she greeted, picking him up. He didn't protest for some reason—good chance he, at the innocent age of two, thought she was his mother.

She noted with amusement that she did indeed resemble his mother—they had the same brown hair except his mother had teal eyes, like he did. The woman's own eyes were blue.

The woman frowned a little. His father would surely be absolutely _devastated_…but she didn't have a choice in this matter. With that resolve, she walked out of sight with the infant, and just in time—she heard a startled shout from the boy's father, which resulted in Chase to start panicking.

"Shh," she murmured, glad that she was at her destination already.

"No trouble?" a black-haired man with steel-blue eyes wearing a black emerald-hemmed cloak over a black shirt asked as she closed the van's door. Then he frowned, eyes narrowing. "Why is he crying, Sabriel?"

"He heard his father," she explained. Sabriel turned her head. "Yrael, could you help me?"

Her ten-year-old son crawled over. Yrael was mute, so he couldn't speak—but actions always spoke louder than words. Which was why he was doing shadow-puppets, his hobby. Thankfully, it stopped Chase from crying.

* * *

Just as predicted—at hearing their neighbor's panicked shouting, the parents of Torrigan's target ran out to see what was wrong.

He quickly slipped in through the door and went right for the boy's room…where he quickly found an issue, as there were _two_ boys. One boy—Bren—took one look at him and started whimpering. The other—Brandon—simply stared at him.

"Don't worry," Torrigan said, quickly making a decision and picking Bren up. "I won't hurt you." That seemed to do the trick…until they got outside. Then the boy started crying, while his brother inside of the house did as well.

Cursing under his breath, Torrigan ran for the trees as fast as he could. The boys' parents returned at hearing the cry…only to find one of their sons gone without a trace as well.

* * *

Time for part-three of the mission. Belgaer kept a steady watch on the expensive-looking house, even though the lights had been shut off for a half-hour now. Five minutes earlier, he had sabotaged the security system.

Finally deciding it was safe, he slipped in through an unlocked window.

The girl's room was upstairs, beside her parents', so he'd have to be very quiet. His target was fast asleep, although the three-year-old did squirm a bit when he picked her up. "Wanna sleep," she mumbled hazily.

As he got outside, however, she must have realized somehow that he _wasn't_ one of her parents carrying her, because she opened her eyes, looked at him, and looked like she was going to freak out.

"Don't you _dare_," he hissed, speeding up. His tone seemed to startle her, but only for a moment—then she screamed rather loudly. Belgaer swore before breaking into a run—he saw some lights going on.

"And you scolded me for Chase crying," Sabriel said to him when he got to the van.

"Quiet you," he said, putting the girl down by the two two-year-olds—both were asleep, but Chase woke up at hearing the noise.

He gave the girl a wide-eyed look before poking her shoulder. She looked at him, blinked, and mirrored his action.

"Aww, look at that," Sabriel cooed. "They're already friends.

"If we play this right, they'll think they're siblings," Torrigan said with a nod.

Belgaer ignored. "Let's get moving," he said.

* * *

As soon as they hit the cold air, Jinja let them know it. "Better?" Torrigan asked after surrendering his heavy jacket. She nodded, looking a little annoyed that the two younger boys were trying to share it.

Sabriel fitted the stolen cloak's hood over her head. "How's this?' she asked.

Belgaer nodded. "Perfect. As long as they can't see your face, you'll be fine."

She nodded, and went out. It was the dead of night, so not many people would be awake. It'd be a bit of a hike to get out to the place and back as well, but Sabriel was the most athletic of the three of them—although she didn't have her son's energy level.

When she _did _get there, there were only about five people still awake. So it was very easy getting in.

The boy shared a room with his parents, she found. So she'd need to be very careful.

The one-year-old was in a deep sleep, so she didn't have to worry about him waking up. As she was walking out, she heard the boy's mother murmur something—a name. _So it's Beyal, then._

Though Sabriel got a curious glance from a man she passed by, but there was no trouble.

At least, until Beyal woke up because of the sudden cold air. He gave a cry, so she took the cloak off and wrapped it around him like a blanket. He simply stared at her for the whole walk after that, his gray eyes wide and trusting.

Torrigan had actually fallen asleep, and the four other kids were curled up around him. Belgaer looked up. "Any trouble?" he asked.

Sabriel shook her head. "So it's on to Gardil tomorrow?"

Belgaer nodded. "Then we'll be done…and they'll be safe."

* * *

Gardil City was one of the more cultured and modern areas of the Lowlands—it actually lived up to the title of "city."

The boy, Dax, was in the front yard. His mother was watching him at the moment…at least, until she went inside to get something.

Belgaer moved quickly, seizing the boy's arm and leading him away. Dax was struggling the whole time ("Lemme go!"), and he even resorted to biting, _hard_.

Belgaer flinched, and snarled, "Stop that at once!"

Dax froze, staring at him with wide eyes. Then he fanned the flames by shouting, "_Mom!_" At that Belgaer picked him up and bolted, swearing mentally. It was a good thing that he wouldn't remember this in a few years at his age of three…

* * *

It was a nightmare getting the three-year-old Lowlander to calm down. They quickly learned that Beyal _severely disliked_ when it was too loud, seeing as he started crying a little.

Amazingly that got Dax to be quiet. The white-haired boy calmed down quickly, and simply stared at him after that—a staring contest which Bren joined in on. The other two were fast asleep.

Torrigan smiled a bit before turning his full attention back to the road. They were just about there now…the cavern system that they had set up in Southern Alappia.

His eyes narrowed slightly. _They are _not _getting their hands on any of them. Not on my watch._


	2. Prologue, Part II

Belgaer had been correct when he said that none of them would remember their original lives in a few years.

Sabriel watched them play in their shared room. They behaved as such: Chase was the brave little leader, Bren was the timid smart one, Jinja was the hotheaded tomboy, Beyal was the quiet peacekeeper, and Dax was the "ruffian" as Belgaer put it.

Their ages ranged from four to six—Beyal the youngest and Dax the oldest. They'd start their lessons soon. But first…

"Kids?" she called. They all stopped and looked at her. "How would you feel about a change of plans for today?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Jinja asked—the two oldest had good grammar already thanks to Yrael, even though he spoke through motions.

"Follow me."

Mystified, the children did as such. Sabriel was excited—they'd be seeing the outside world for the first time in three years.

Had she known what would happen today, however, she would have put it off until the next day.

* * *

Chase passed. Sabriel had turned toward the tunnel that Belgaer had drilled into them was _strictly_ off-limits.

Their caregiver smiled at him. "There's nothing to worry about Chase," she said. "Come on." Encouraged, he did as such, his siblings following like little ducks. Despite him being effectively in the middle age-wise, the others followed him; although Dax would sometimes lead in a game.

They made a turn, and Chase froze. They had reached the _end_ of the tunnel, and were now _outside_ of the caves! "So?" Sabriel started. "What're you guys waiting for? Let's go."

"Go where?" Bren asked in a high-pitched tone, staying in the shadow of the tunnel.

"To Wyverley, of course."

* * *

There were plenty of outbursts from the kids as they went along the road such as "It's warm!" from Jinja a few times, and the ever-present "What's that?" from _all_ of them every few minutes.

Sabriel couldn't help but smile at their innocence. Bren was the one asking the most questions, like what trees were and what grass was, while Beyal had asked about the "white fluffies" in the sky. Of course he had worded "sky" as "blue"—they didn't really know what the sky was, and neither Jinja nor Dax really remembered much, since they had been three when they had been taken.

* * *

Wyverley was a small town, though it was the biggest of the settlements in rural Southern Alappia. It was also very secluded—the only way to get to the town was by train. Although the STORM agency would probably be able to use their new "Hoppers" as they were called…

As they were walking, Sabriel was suddenly aware that Chase had stopped, and was looking at something in a store window. The woman followed his gaze—he was looking at a blue-and-white zipper jacket. "Want it," the five-year-old said, pointing.

Sabriel smiled. "Chase, that's too big for you."

"Want it," he repeated, more firmly.

She sighed. When Chase got stubborn, there was no hope for changing his mind. "Come on, then," she said, and they went in.

Chase immediately dashed and grabbed the jacket. When Sabriel was paying for it, she saw the clerk point, and she looked to see that suddenly Dax had a blue beanie hat on. At seeing her look he put both his arms over his head.

"I take it you all want something?" she asked. Both Jinja and Beyal nodded, but Bren continued clinging to her arm.

A minute later Jinja returned with a silvery-white jacket that was also too big at the moment, and Beyal had found a necklace of some sort…which cost fifty dollars.

"It's an authentic Mandalan talisman," was the clerk's explanation.

Luckily Sabriel had a credit card.

* * *

They also had to stop to get Bren some glasses—as Torrigan had noted he was severely nearsighted.

Currently he was blinking and trying to adjust to them.

"We'll get a snack, and then we'll go home," Sabriel said. "Okay?"

"Okay," they murmured, sounding a little upset—the enjoyed the day out very much.

As for what won the award for the perfect snack, it was ice-cream.

* * *

Chase _loved_ his new jacket. It was way too big for him at the moment, but he still was wearing it, being careful not to get any "ice-cream" on it.

When he was just about done, something caught his attention. There were a few people walking by them that seemed…_important_. One was a woman with yellow-colored hair and gold-colored eyes that looked pretty. One was a man with black hair, like Belgaer, and had dark-green eyes. One was a man with pale-yellow hair, gray eyes, and a scar on his head—he glanced at them a few times. The last person was another black-haired man, with gray eyes. He looked sad for some reason, but as Chase was about to go over and ask why—

Sabriel suddenly went stiff. "We need to go," she said, standing.

Chase kept looking back as they went, and he thought he saw the man look back…and a flash of something in his eyes.

Some part of the five-year-old knew that man.

Then Sabriel froze, looking around. "Where's Beyal?" she asked worriedly.

The black-haired boy looked around. She was right—where did his littlest brother go? "Stay here," Sabriel said sternly—a rarity for her. "I need to go find him. Shouldn't be too hard…"

* * *

Beyal looked around nervously. There were so many people around…and where did Sabriel go?

A movement caught his eye—was that her jacket? It was white…so it must be!

He quickly ran after the person, running past other people—some looking at him in confusion, others simply giving a passing glance.

Finally he caught up to Sabriel, and tapped her on the arm—before very suddenly realizing that it actually _wasn't _Sabriel. Instead it was a woman with yellow-colored hair and yellow-colored eyes. She gave him a puzzled look, raising one eyebrow.

"Who's the brat?" a man with black hair (like Belgaer's, but darker) and dark-green eyes muttered, glaring. Beyal instinctively shrunk back slightly, trying to hide. A third person, a man with pale-yellow hair, glared at him immediately after, while the one who had spoken shrugged a bit.

It was the fourth person who spoke—he had messy black hair and gray eyes that seemed to have a sad look in them. "Do you live around here?"

The white-haired boy blinked in confusion. He didn't know where his home was from here. "Suno, this is a _four-year-old _we're dealing with," the green-eyed man said. "He wouldn't know."

"You're right…we better ask around."

* * *

They did. For an hour straight. Yet no one recognized the little boy. "Maybe tomorrow," Jon Ace said. "It's getting dark."

Charlemagne nodded slightly, glancing at the child. He had refused to let go of her jacket sleeve, and was shifting his attention constantly between them. She had to admit, it was a little cute. A little.

Rogirek Sayre snorted, rolling his eyes. Despite being the most experienced of the commanders, he was also known for his bad attitude—something she had quickly taught him to keep in check.

"We're leaving, zhen," she said, starting towards where the Hopper was. The boy followed after a moment, keeping pace with them.

* * *

Sabriel's panic was unbridled, although she managed to mask it. "Where's Beyal?" Dax asked, eyes wide. The woman knew she had to be truthful.

"I don't know," she replied. "But I'm sure someone's taking care of him at the moment. I'll come and get him tomorrow. We need to go home now."

She could tell none of them wanted to leave—she didn't either. But they had to; she didn't want to risk any coyotes or cougars happening upon them on the way back if it got too dark.

* * *

"YOU _WHAT_?!" Belgaer bellowed.

Sabriel flinched a bit before saying, "He wandered off, and I…couldn't find him."

The black-haired man groaned loudly, putting his face in his hands.

"Sabriel," Torrigan started, "Where did you last see him?"

"Outside of the ice-cream parlor."

"Maybe the Ashley family is taking care of him at the moment—I know both of them."

"They better be," Belgaer said darkly. To Sabriel he said sternly, "And no more bringing them out. If something like _this _happens the first day…I don't even want to THINK about what else could happen. Do you have any idea how important these children are?"

"I know," Sabriel said wearily. "All too well."

She sighed, and ambled to her room, staring out the window—hers was right on the edge of the cavern system, so she had the luxury of seeing the night sky. _Beyal…wherever you are, please be safe…_


	3. Chapter I

Chase was starting to think he wasn't cut out to be the star of some huge-and-important prophecy. "Stop holding back!" his combat instructor shouted, dashing at him again. The fifteen-year-old scrambled to the side. Belgaer lunged at him again. "Feint to the left!"

Chase tried—and smacked into the stone wall, as he impulsively had gone right. Also resulted in getting sent sprawling by Belgaer, who then shouted, "WHAT KIND OF LEFT WAS THAT?!"

Chase winced, standing up and brushing himself off. This was how combat training with Belgaer always ended—him messing up and Belgaer screaming at him and telling him how useless he was in a physical fight. Bren got it worse, though.

Then another voice shouted "Leave him alone!" Chase looked—it was Jinja. Her blue eyes were bright with anger.

Belgaer gave her an angry look for a few moments before saying, "I'll mark this as another failure for physical combat, Chase." He stalked out of the room.

"He's gonna be really mean to you tomorrow in training, you know," Chase warned.

"When _isn't_ Belgaer mean?" Jinja replied, smiling at him.

Chase grinned back. "C'mon, we better go…study our maps or something. I think I heard Mr. Grumpy mutter it."

"Okay."

Their home wasn't a real house, actually. They lived in a system of caverns connected by tunnels lit by a type of crystal that always glowed.

The jacket that Chase had gotten nine years ago now fit perfectly. He gripped the collar of it tightly—that had also been the last day they'd seen their youngest sibling, Beyal. He couldn't really remember what he had looked like, but all of them knew the name very well: Belgaer always was reminding Sabriel and Torrigan why _not _to let them outside: _"You remember what happened to Beyal, correct?"_ Whatever happened…was why their fifth sibling wasn't there. Still, he put on a smile. All of them did, each day.

The others were in the study room as well. "I heard Belgaer yelling," the youngest of the four (and the only one with glasses), Bren, said.

"Yeah, he was," Chase replied with a slight laugh, fingering the metal charm he had. One thing he never understood—where in the world had he gotten it? He'd had it for as long as he could remember…and none of their caregivers knew about it either.

"What'd you do this time?" the eldest of the four, Dax, asked.

"I made a wrong turn…again."

"Ouch." The dark-skinned teen—something they didn't really get was why he was the only one like that, but they didn't pay any mind to it—then changed the subject. "All this studying is _boring_," he complained. "What good is studying when we're supposed to finish this stupid prophecy?"

"What's it even for? They never tell us," Jinja put in, looking thoughtful.

"I guess we're supposed to save the world, I guess," Chase said with a shrug, reciting what Torrigan, Belgaer, Sabriel, and even Yrael always told them. Yet, they never said what they had to save the world _from_.

They all paused when they heard someone coming—and of course, it HAD to be Belgaer. "WHAT are you doing?" he asked in a snappy tone. They all jumped and looked at him. The man had his arms crossed, and his ice-blue eyes were narrow.  
"B-Belgaer, we were just talking about—" Jinja started.

"Talking back now, are we? No dessert tonight, for any of you!"

When he was gone, Dax hissed, "Thanks a lot Princess!"

"Don't call me that!" she hissed back. "You know I hate it!"

"Which is why I called you that!"

"Both of you, shut it!" Chase snapped quietly. They flinched and did as such…and suddenly Chase had a great idea. "Hey…why can't we just get out of here?"

The other four gawked at him. "B-but…where would we go?" Bren asked.

"I dunno—Wyverley maybe? Then we could catch a train to…to Belisaere, or maybe Orchyre…" He shook his head. "Who cares about that?!"

Now Jinja smiled. "Maybe we can find our parents!" That really set them off. Out of everything they've ever wondered, their parents were number-two on the list—right after their missing sibling.

"Yeah, that too!" Bren exclaimed, now looking ecstatic.

"And maybe find Beyal while we're at it!" Chase added. "Okay, how does tomorrow night sound?"

Everyone else nodded rapidly in agreement.

* * *

First thing Jinja noticed the next morning was that it was unusually quiet._ Huh?_ She rolled over on her bed, and sat up, blinking. Normally Torrigan would have gotten her and the others up by now…

Frowning, she stood and went into the hall. The others' doors were closed, except for Yrael's. She peeked in—he wasn't there.

Now she was getting worried—Yrael always ate his breakfast in his room. She opened Chase's room's door, and went in, actually dragging him off of his bed. "Wha'—Jin, what's…?" he exclaimed, giving her a wide-eyed confused look. He had also been awake, it looked like.

"Yrael's not in his room," she said.

He blinked, and said, "Go find Sabriel. I'll get the others up."

She nodded, and ran through the hallway. Sabriel's door was open as well—she wasn't there either. And when she checked Torrigan's room, he was gone too! She bit her lip before checking Belgaer's room…he was gone as well. _Where is everyone?!_

Kitchen—empty.

Study room—empty.

Combat-training room—also empty.

The others met up in the "lobby"—the large cavern near the entrance. "I couldn't find them anywhere!" Jinja exclaimed.

The others, even Dax, now looked worried. "Th-Then, where are they?" Bren asked fearfully. "I don't know," Chase admitted. "But we'll find them—c'mon, maybe they're outside!"

The others stared at him. "Do you know how much trouble we'll get in if they are? You know how Belgaer is with that!" Jinja exclaimed.

"I know. But it's worth a shot."

The other three exchanged a quick look, and then started after him. It wasn't long before they got out—there was a river off to the right, which actually _did _run through the combat-training room, going downhill. There were a few trees here and there, and the entrance of the cave was well-hidden by bushes.

No one was there.

"_Please_ tell me this is just a bad dream!" Bren whimpered.

"B, I hate saying this, but it's not."

* * *

An hour went by, and none of their caregivers had returned. Jinja had gotten everyone else some breakfast, as well as for herself. Finally she voiced what was on all their minds: "Do you think something…_bad_ happened to them?"

First came silence. Then Dax said, "I couldn't tell you, Jinja." She knew that if he was actually calling her by her name, he was just as freaked out.

Chase looked up. "If they don't come back in another half-hour, we're gonna go look for them in Wyverley. Okay?"

The others nodded. Sure enough, thirty minutes later…they still weren't back. So they set off, after getting some supplies—some strange instinct was telling them that they wouldn't be coming back to the caverns for a long time.


	4. Chapter II

**Two reviews already?! Okay...so here's a treat: an extra update, even though I was only planning on two a week. X3 ~Myra  
**

* * *

They'd split up to search the town, and even though Bren was asking everyone he saw, none of them had seen Sabriel, Torrigan, Yrael, or Belgaer. They met up in the central square, by the fountain—which was decorated by a wyvern statue, seeing as the town was called _Wyver_ley.

"They aren't here," Bren muttered.

"Don't worry Bren, we'll find them," Jinja said in a reassuring tone. "I just know it." The glasses-wearing teen didn't respond.

Chase was silent. He had a huge decision to make. They could either return to the caverns and wait some more…or take advantage of their caregivers' unexpected absence and leave now—go look for them, wherever they may be.

One choice seemed clearer, so he voiced it. The others looked at him. "So…Orchyre?" Jinja asked hesitantly, blinking.

Chase nodded, not saying a word. Then, he said, "C'mon…we gotta catch the train."

* * *

The train ride was of complete silence for the they finally got to Orchyre, they were quick to set off. They all knew that their caregivers didn't like going into towns…so maybe they were on the road somewhere. They weren't worried about being attacked by anything—Belgaer's combat lessons would suffice fine, though Chase was hoping he wouldn't screw up a turn again.

* * *

A few uneventful days went by. They were sure they had left Southern Alappia, seeing as the surroundings turned more to thick temperate forest and cliffs.

It was as they were walking along a cliff that Dax's sharp eyes found something. "What's that?" he asked, pointing.

There was some sort of building below. They couldn't really tell what shape it was—it was overgrown by all sorts of moss and ivy. Bren leaned forward a bit—and nearly fell off, if Chase and Dax hadn't grabbed him at the last second. "Phew…that was close," the glasses-wearing teen muttered. Unfortunately he only jinxed them…as the whole portion of ledge they were on collapsed beneath them.

"Well that was pleasant," Jinja said sarcastically.

"Watch that first step—it's a killer," Chase agreed.

"Hey, we got down, didn't we?" Dax said, shrugging and standing up. The strange building was right in front of them, practically. They saw some sort of blue symbol painted above the door.

Slowly they approached, Chase at the front. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Bren asked fearfully.

"I wanna check this out," Chase responded.

Surprisingly, the door _opened for them_. That was unheard of! _O-kaaay…_

The building's interior was a complete mess, from what they could see. Chase was aware that they were walking on a metal floor, which was totally new to him and the others. "Is anyone here?" Jinja called, looking around.

"It looks abandoned," Bern came to another room, and Dax randomly put a hand on the wall—and they heard a click, and suddenly lights came on, making them all squint and blink.

"Wow," Chase exclaimed, eyes wide. "_Something_ must've happened." There were papers all over the place, as well as broken glass—good thing they all had shoes on. He paused. "Maybe we better go…this—doesn't feel right."

As they were about to start leaving, however, Chase noted one last door, which had been left open. Curiosity got the better of him once again, and he went towards it. "Chase?" Bren asked nervously.

"Last thing, I promise," he said, looking in. Inside the room, there was a stand with four small cylindrical devices that glowed neon-blue.

The others peered in. "What're those funny-looking things?" Dax asked.

"No clue," Jinja said, going for a closer look. "It's like they're _begging_ us to take them, though…"

In response, Chase reached and took one—the one with the white grips. The object lit up briefly, and dimmed again. The others each chose one as well.

"Hey, this one's…empty or something," Bren said, looking over his. He was quickly distracted. "And—what's this thing?" He picked up a somewhat-small, flattish rectangular thing. There were keys of some sort on it, and when he randomly pressed on one, one side of it lit up blue, and he nearly dropped it out of surprise. He _did_ drop it when an image suddenly projected off it, though he picked it up again. "Wow, this thing's cool!" he exclaimed.

"Of course you'd say that," Dax muttered. "You're weird like that."

"I'm not weird!"

"Yeah right, four-eyes."

"_Hey!_"

"Cut it out you two!" Chase scolded.

Jinja looked around. "This place is giving me the creeps. Can we go now?"

"Yeah…let's go…we'll find out what these things are later."

* * *

They got outside—just in time to see _something_ coming. "Quick, hide!" Chase ordered, and they dove into the undergrowth.

There were a few…vehicles of some kind, black with yellow highlights. People wearing black outfits filed out, along with an important-looking guy with black hair and brown eyes. Chase blinked—he recognized that guy! He'd seen him nine years ago in Wyverley, the day he got his jacket! "Find the cores!" the man ordered, and the people filed in.

"Cores?" Jinja repeated quietly, and Chase shrugged in response.

A few minutes later, the people came back out. "Commander Trey, all five cores are gone!" one reported. "Trey" looked horribly confused.

"What do you mean they're gone?!"

"A-As in, they're just—not there! And it looks like someone's been here!"

Bren happened to _somehow_ lose his balance then, causing a twig to snap. The people all looked up. "Someone's over there," one of the people muttered, and started approaching.

"Run!" Chase hissed, and they dashed for it.

"After them!" they heard the black-haired guy shout.

"Split up!" Chase said. "That'll make it harder for them to follow!" His siblings immediately did as such, running different ways.

All five of them had decent endurance, although Bren was a bit below-caliber. He went right for the undergrowth—as he was well-aware of his own limits—so Chase wasn't worried.

He stopped when he reached a small clearing by the cliff, in order to catch his breath. Then, to his disappointment, he heard one of the people shout "Freeze!"

He turned to see four of them, plus the black-haired guy. "What're you doing out here?" the guy—Trey—asked.

Chase smirked. "I was about to ask you the same." He turned to look at them, and noticed that suddenly Trey looked put-off.

"He looks like Suno…" he muttered. _Who…?_

Before Chase had time to pursue the thought, Trey noticed something, and shouted, "Hey—hand that core over _right now_!"

The raven-haired teen glanced at the blue object. _So it's called a core, then._

To the other black-clad people, Trey said, "Don't let him spin it out!"

That, of course, only gave Chase an idea. _This some sort of weapon…?_ True to his nature, he decided to do the opposite of what the guy said, and threw it while making sure it spun. It went right for a rock, glowing brighter as it went—and it collided with the rock in a blinding flash of blue light.

When the light cleared, Chase couldn't believe his eyes. There was a large, white, polar-bear-looking creature that had large crystals growing from its back, arms, legs, and claws. It had glowing blue eyes, and it roared loudly—a challenge.

Trey looked momentarily panicked—then angry. "That does it!" He took out a device of some kind, and put a hand on the lever. "Riccoshot, launch!"

A black-and-yellow version of a core shot out of the device, and smacked against the cliff in a flash of yellow light. Chase shielded his eyes again, and when he looked…there was a giant armored beetle there. _Aw krag…_

"Ballistic Repeater!" Trey shouted, and the beetle sent some sort of energy wave at the polar-bear. The bear dodged it, however, and slugged the beetle in the side. Chase dashed over and picked his core up, and a hologram of some sort appeared. Something came into mind, and he automatically said, "Inner Shine!"

The beetle tried attacking the polar-bear again, but the latter created a shield of some sort—and then shot a beam of pure energy at the beetle, knocking it back a few meters.

After that instinct kicked in. "Shooting Battery!" Chase shouted right after, and the polar-bear raced up and slugged the beetle in the face, knocking it back yet again…and to Chase's surprised, the beetle reverted to a gold-colored essence which shot into its core.

Boy did Trey looked shocked.

Chase blinked a few times before grinning. "Well that was fun!" he said. "We'll have to do that again sometime, okay?" He started running, and the polar-bear ran behind him.

* * *

Strangely, six minutes later, the polar-bear creature automatically reverted to a blue essence and went into its core. Chase regarded the small object in awe. _I'll have to tell the others about—oh my god, the others! _

"Guys?!" he shouted. "Where are you?"

Within two minutes the others emerged from the undergrowth. "You're alright," Jinja said with a relieved sigh.

"Of course I am," he said. Gaining a more jubilant tone, he added "And you are _not_ gonna believe what I figured out about these little things!"

* * *

Trey swallowed in a nervous manner after delivering his report. "So…you vere bested by a _child_," the Commandant-Marshal summed up.

"Y-Yes ma'am."

She gave him a blank look for a few moments, and then her amber eyes hardened. "You're lucky you still have a job, Commander."

He said nothing in response. The blond-haired woman was silent for a bit before asking, "Vhat did zhe boy look like?"

It was a good thing Trey managed to get a picture. The confusing thing was…as soon as he brought it up, Charlemagne looked…well, _distracted_.

* * *

Why was she distracted? Simple—that kid, for some reason, looked a lot like Jeredy Suno.

She was aware that his son had been kidnapped thirteen years ago…but could that possibly be Chase? She remembered how her old friend had acted for three months straight afterwards—he hadn't spoken at all, and had always had an eerie blank look in his eyes. It was only after a breakthrough in Monsuno research that he started getting his fire back.

"Commander," she said quietly. "Find zhat boy."

"Ma'am…?"

She allowed herself to smile faintly. "I think you may have found Jeredy's lost son."

He gave a shocked look for a few moments before saluting and running out. About a minute later, the door opened again, and she looked up, wondering why Trey had come back so quickly—and immediately saw that it wasn't the commander. "Vhat is it?" she asked.

"Is it alright if I practice with Glowblade for a while?"

She gave a slight smile. "Of course."

"Thank you ma'am."


	5. Chapter III

**Okay, forget what I said about two updates a week. I'll update as I finish the chapters. ~Myra  
**

* * *

That evening, they set up camp in a thicket. The others were stunned at Chase's explanation on what the "cores" were, and what was contained within them.

Bren was poking around with the strange device he found, pressing a few buttons—he was intent on figuring out what it was.

"Bren, we don't even know what that thing is!" Jinja exclaimed, looking annoyed.

"Still!" he retorted, pressing a key—and an image suddenly materialized above it, of a person.

_"Science entry 548-92—Jeredy Suno, protocol 3,"_ the image said—obviously it was a recorded message. Though none of them were too good with technology, they at least knew the basics. Chase remembered—that "Trey" person mention a "Suno." Was that him? And why the krag did he seem so…_familiar_? A slideshow started, showing first a cliff, then a mysterious green substance. _"Early exploration into Monsuno essence shows that it is an energy source that seems very promising. Mining operations under my supervision have shown great quantities of the material. But only after intense research did I realize that the glowing plasma is actually a life-form. It was DNA…living essence. So I named it 'Monsuno.' A bit of vanity, I know, but I just couldn't help myself."_

"_Monsuno_?" Bren repeated, and Jinja shrugged.

_"I developed a way to give the Monsuno essence a chance to hyper-evolve." _Another hologram appeared—it was a core._ "I call it a core. By combining various elements and animal DNA, the core can be spun out, creating a Monsuno that now has a direct connection with its controller. The core is not only the creative platform for a Monsuno, but also their home and regeneration station. A Monsuno must return to its core to rest and recharge."  
_"I bet that's why mine just went back into its core like that," Chase noted. Apparently those creatures were called "Monsunos."

"Probably," Jinja said. "But we don't have time to think that over—look!" They did as such, and saw two more of those black vehicles.

Chase's eyes narrowed. "Let's go check it out."

* * *

"This is the last of the stuff," one of the black-clad men said.

"Good, let's load the H-Trams and get the hell out—we only got three minutes."

"Jeez, those goons really stripped the place," Chase muttered once they were gone. "At least they finally left."

"Which makes me ask—why are _we_ still here?" Bren put in.

"Maybe they forgot something?" Dax asked.

"I doubt that," Jinja muttered. Then she frowned.

"What's wrong, Jin?" Chase asked.

"Something those guys said—three minutes.

"Uh guys?" Bren said suddenly. "_Please_ tell me this is not a bomb." Thank God that Sabriel—their cultural teacher—had at least told them what a _bomb_ was.

"Okay then," Jinja said in a forcibly-calm voice. "Then it's not a bomb."

"Except for the glaringly obvious fact that it _is_ a bomb!" Chase yelled. "Run for it!" Jinja had already done so.

Luckily they were all decently quick, so they managed to get away…right before the whole building went up in an impressive fireball.

The vehicles were heading off in the distance. "We have to catch them," Chase said.

"How?" Bren asked.

"Like this," Dax said suddenly, a weird gleam in his eyes as he took out his core. Without warning, he spun it out.

The core zipped towards a tree, and collided with it in a flash of blue. The Monsuno that appeared looked like a cross between a vulture and a hawk—they knew those birds from the few picture books that Sabriel had gotten for them when they were little. It had four wings, as well as—strangely—four eyes.

Bren made note of said fact. "Look who has four eyes," he said with a funny grin.

"Shut up," was Dax's quick response.

* * *

They were riding on the bird-Monsuno, speedily catching up to the "H-Tram" as it was apparently called. They flew above it for a bit, and then the Monsuno landed heavily on it, causing it to screech to a halt.

The side door of the H-Tram opened…and the troops were greeted by a very angry bird. "AAH! Close the door, close the door!" one yelped.

They tried to, but Dax's Monsuno promptly managed to tip the vehicle so they fell out. They immediately ran away.

"So…now we just wait for them to go back automatically?" Dax asked.

"I think there's supposed to be a way to get them to return," Chase mused.

Apparently that was the word, as the Monsuno looked at him. After exchanging a glance with Chase, Dax said, "Return!" The vulture-hawk did as such, returning to its core.

* * *

A few minutes later, they'd dug through almost everything that was in the H-Tram. "Anyone find anything that looks important?" Chase asked.

"What about this?" Bren asked, holding a suitcase of some sort up. In response Chase opened it—revealing empty cores and clips of some kind that looked like they could hold cores to them.

"Hold on to these—they might come in handy." Chase gave the extra cores to Bren, who put them into his bag.

Said teen spoke up: "What do you think happened to my Monsuno, though?" He looked at his core again…right as the computer-thing beeped, and another holograph-recording began playing: _"Core-Tech Core Number A-0-2. Experimental Monsuno 2-7-5. Name: Quickforce. During my primary experiments in Monsuno spinning, I attempted to use a highly-volatile sample of Monsuno essence. The Monsuno produced was powerful, destructive, and one-hundred percent unpredictable. Through Quickforce, I estimated a Monsuno's limits—vital knowledge for my work. STORM wanted to exceed those limits…they ordered cruel and painful tests. I refused."_

"STORM—I bet those are the people we keep running into," Jinja noted.

The recording went on. _"STORM took everything: equipment, research…and Quickforce. I suspected they might perform their cruel experiments despite my protests. So I switched Quickforce's core out with a fake. Monsuno can only survive outside of their cores for a short time—eight minutes. The experimental field is the only thing keeping Quickforce alive. I plan to recover it as soon as possible, and return it to its core. It is a dangerous strategy, as it may reject my control…and even kill me. I plan to do this as soon as possible."_

Bren quivered. "We have to go save Quickforce!" he exclaimed.

"We will, Bren. We just need a plan…" Chase said, trailing off.

"I know that look," Jinja noted.

* * *

A Monsuno encased in a glowing green experimental field stomped on the ground, roaring in anger. Resembling an antelope crossed with a raven, it was a beautiful creature. Sadly its captors didn't feel that way.

A red beam was shot at the shield, causing the Monsuno to struggle wildly, screeching in pain. "Pain threshold's at forty-five percent. Fifth vital's at seven dulls. Tolerance is point two and dropping."

"We have to find the monster's true limits. Hit it again. And again."

* * *

Commander Rogirek Sayre glanced sideways at the other commander. "You're losing your edge, Ace," he taunted.  
"I didn't sign up for this…for torturing Monsuno," the other commander retorted, a man by the name of Jon Ace.

"We're not torturing them, Ace. We're learning what we need to know. They don't feel it; they're nothing but mindless beasts."  
"Are they? Or is it just easier to think they are?" This earned Jon a sideways glare that he paid no heed to. Rogirek snorted. _He's pathetic. First thing I'm doing when I'm in charge is firing him…_

* * *

"I'm telling you guys, this plan _will_ work!" Chase said. "This H-Tram is our ticket into the STORM base." He placed his hand on the control pad, and a mechanical voice recited _"Access denied."_

He frowned. "If we can get it moving…"

"Hold on a minute," Jinja said, looking at a panel. "I think I might be able to…" She opened it, and studied the wires. "Now which ones did Torrigan say…the red and blue…?" She put said two wires together—and the vehicle started.

"Nice going Princess!" Dax exclaimed.

For once she didn't make a remark, instead sitting in the driver's seat. "You don't know how to drive this!" Bren exclaimed.

"How hard can it be?" she replied, smirking.

"Ugh…famous last words…" the glasses-wearing boy muttered before sitting in one of the passenger seats.

* * *

Amazingly they got there within fifteen minutes. Probably because Jinja was going so fast—they were lucky she didn't crash into anything. As soon as they neared the gate, floodlights turned on.

"H-Tram," a voice said over a radio. "State ID, passcode, and status." The said things came up on one of the screens.

Forcibly altering his voice, Bren read it aloud. What killed it was him adding "Status is…pretty messed up."

A few tense moments went by. Then: "H-Tram 293 entry clear. You were expected an hour ago. Proceed directly to mech bay for repair."

As they went in, Bren cheered, "Your plan, it worked!" to Chase. He broke off when he saw both Chase and Dax looking through the window. Some STORM soldiers were watching them curiously.

"Okay…now what?" Jinja asked.

Chase responded immediately. "You four find that Monsuno. Rescue it, and then come rescue me." He was out before any of them had a chance to object."Chase—he's crazy," Bren said, shaking his head in exasperation.

"Brains he may be lacking, but he's got guts, I'll give him that," Jinja said with a nod.

"Now we have to find that Monsuno," Dax said. "We need a distraction."

* * *

In the experimental room, an alarm began blaring. "We have a halogen leak!" Jon Ace exclaimed. "Everyone evacuate! Seal the doors!"

* * *

"I actually did it!" Bren exclaimed, looking up from the device—they, while poking around some of the settings, had figured out it was called a Core-Tablet.

"Now let's go!" He stood and was about to dash out—only to be grabbed by Jinja.

"Hold it," she said, a weird gleam in her eyes. "Why walk when you can drive?"

"Oh no," Bren moaned simultaneously with Dax, sitting down.

* * *

Chase kept running, hiding behind a wall. Two STORM soldiers ran by, not noticing him. Sighing, he was about to go back into the main hall—

Only to back up suddenly as a damaged H-Tram blitzed by. He stared after it, open-mouthed. _Well, that's a way to do it,_ he thought with a chuckle. _Typical sis._

* * *

The H-Tram burst through the door, turning and skidding to a halt. "You can't say _that_ wasn't fun," Jinja said, coming out.

"Yes I can," Bren said, promptly following with, "It wasn't fun."

"Princess, you need to take lessons," Dax muttered, looking a bit shaky. Jinja snorted, and a sudden banging got all of their attention. It was the Monsuno. "Wow," Bren whispered, amazed that that one was _his_.

"Lucky," Jinja muttered, before walking over to a control panel. Bren walked up to the stasis field. "Ready?" Jinja asked.

"Ready," Bren responded.

Jinja hit the button, and the green stasis wall faded. Quickforce paused, and bent its head down to look at Bren closely. "Oh krag," he muttered, holding the core. "Here, horsey…nice horsey…" Obviously Quickforce didn't want to go back into its core—it was struggling to remain solid. "Hey Quickforce!" Bren shouted. "I'm not trying to hurt you—I'm trying to help!" He grit his teeth, and shouted, "Quickforce, _return_!"

And that did it—the antelope-raven reverted into a sparkling-blue essence form, which shot into the core at long last.

* * *

Chase paused from running, panting heavily. "Oh man…" he panted. "I think…I pulled…a lung." He continued dashing, but this time down a different hall—a bad move. As soon as he got into the large, open room, a door shut behind him, and he saw about forty STORM soldiers all pointing guns at him.

One, an important-looking man with blond hair and a scar on his forehead looked startled. The other, a black-haired man with gray eyes, glared at him. "How did you get in here?!" he demanded.

Chase didn't reply, instead glaring. The blond-haired man intervened. "Slow down, Sayre," he said, and he turned to Chase. "You're the kid who has the Core-Tech core, right?"

The raven-haired teen impulsively put a hand on his Monsuno's core. Then "Sayre" intervened. "Ace, you have your orders. Take him!" he ordered.

In response, the commander took out a black-and-yellow core. "You're in over your head, kid," he warned. "This is for your own good." He ran a safe distance away before he threw the core, yelling, "Blackbullet, launch!"

Chase replied in suit, "Lock, launch!" He would later wonder where the name "Lock" came from.

The two cores sped toward each other, clanking together. A blinding flash of blue and yellow illuminated the area. From the yellow light a Monsuno that looked like a falcon with four wings like Airswitch—except this one had black and yellow wings and a blade for a tail—appeared, flying in an arc around the room. From the blue light, Lock slid backwards. He growled at Blackbullet before roaring a challenge. "Lock, look out!" Chase exclaimed as Blackbullet sped toward the polar-bear. The order came too late—Blackbullet smashed into Lock, knocking him out of the building. The falcon flew out and into the sky.

Chase ran outside. "Lock, get up!" He looked around. _Where is it?_ A gleam caught his eye—it was coming from above!

Again Lock was knocked backwards. Chase looked at the core, and saw the five-segmented diagram lose one whole segment and a quarter of the second. _Krag!_ _Where the heck is that thing?_ He looked up, just in case—and saw Blackbullet coming in, outlined against the moon. "Block!" Chase yelled.

The Monsuno actually put a force-field up—Blackbullet slammed into it beak-first, but all it did was send Lock flying into a vehicle that looked like it was meant to fly, which promptly exploded. "No way!" Chase exclaimed.

"Sorry kid," Jon said. "That kind of shield is useless in a fight."

Chase looked at the core—Lock hadn't, miraculously, taken any damage. "We're not giving up yet!" he shouted.

Again Blackbullet came in. "Shield, again!" Chase said. But Lock did nothing. _Huh? What—?_ He froze. _I…I see._ "Do it Lock!"

"What is he up to?" Jon muttered to himself.

When Blackbullet came in close—Lock jumped, actually slamming onto Blackbullet's back. The falcon screeched in pain.

* * *

Jon was in complete shock. _Unbelievable…normally that would take years of training to master perfect timing like that! _He turned his attention to the more-important fact. According to the report—which the Commandant herself had actually contributed to…there was a chance that this was Jeredy's long-lost son.

It was certainly plausible—he looked almost exactly like Jeredy, except for his eyes. Thirteen years ago, it had almost killed him to see his friend that depressed—although finding the base's youngest resident had at least helped lessen it. If they managed to find Jeredy and tell him that Chase was alive…

* * *

"Blackbullet, return!"

The order came as a surprise to Chase. He blinked in shock, and exclaimed, "Alright, we won!"

The moment was ruined, however, by the other guy saying, "Soldier, get me Nitefang."

"Yes sir!" a soldier said, running to get something.

"Rogirek, are you serious? Nitefang is excessive force!" Blackbullet's controller countered.

"Can it Ace!" Rogirek shot back. "This time the kid's going down, and he's not getting back up."

Chase jolted slightly when he heard a third voice: "I'll do it." A boy that looked perhaps a year younger than him wearing a black shirt, gray-colored pants, and wearing a talisman of some kind as a necklace had spoken. What was most notable about him was that he had pure-white hair.

Rogirek looked like he was about to say something, but Jon interrupted: "Are you sure about this?"

"Positive," the teen replied, taking out a black-and-yellow core. Rogirek stiffened…before sighing.

"Fine," he muttered. "But when he loses, I'm taking over."

The white-haired teen gave Chase a steely look before shouting, "Glowblade, launch!" and spinning his core out.

The core collided with a vehicle that looked like a helicopter in a burst of gold.

The Monsuno that emerged actually caused him to gasp in surprise. For one, it had _three heads_. It was a snake, obviously, but what he found interesting was that it had six spider-like legs on the side of its neck…or necks…he wasn't sure. What quickly caught his eye was that all six of them had blades grafted perfectly in, and the head on the left had a blade sticking out of the top of it. It was black as ebony, and had sun-yellow markings running down it. It hissed at Lock with all three heads in a threatening manner.

Chase swallowed slightly. _That guy looks like he means business._ He clenched his fist. _I'm not backing out, though._ "Get 'im Lock!" he shouted.

The polar-bear Monsuno charged the serpent, although the latter nimbly slithered out of the way. "Electric Barrage!" the white-haired controller ordered.

Glowblade's markings gleamed brightly before all three heads spat an orb of plasmatic energy at Lock—it was a direct hit.

Chase flinched—this wasn't looking good anymore. _Here it comes again—!_ "Lock, Inner Shine!" he yelled, purely on impulse.

Lock formed a shield just in time—the orbs dissolved against it, and immediately after the shield disappeared, Lock shot a beam of energy at the snake; direct hit.

His opponent glared at him, before saying, "Glowblade, Paralysis Fang!"

It didn't take a genius to figure out what that would do. Before he could say anything, however…Rogirek shouted, "Nitefang, launch!" The yellow core collided with a stone, and a flash of yellow illuminated the area. The Monsuno that appeared was reptilian in appearance, and had bat-like wings coming from its back, which each had a single claw on the top of the wing-bone. It had a bladed-and-spiked tail, and long, sharp claws. There was a frill on its head as well. It let out a deafening roar.

Chase shuddered. _That thing looks nasty!_

"Rogirek, what are you—?" Jon started.

The commander interrupted. "Nitefang, Plasma Burst!" The lizard-Monsuno's mouth opened, and a beam of yellow energy shot out at them. Chase quickly got out of the way, while Lock was sent sliding back a little.

Then there was an explosion from the upper level of the base. All of them looked up to see—

A Monsuno. And not just any Monsuno—Quickforce. On its back were the other three. "Chase!" Bren yelled. "We got your back!"

"Sorry we're late!" Jinja shouted, and to Chase's surprise, she then spun her core out. It arced through the air, eventually colliding with one of Nitefang's claws. There was a blinding flash of light, and suddenly a Monsuno that resembled a cross between a moose, a bison, and an armadillo was there. It promptly rammed Nitefang.

Chase grinned, and shouted, "Lock, Jaw of Light!" The others looked confused at Chase's mention of "Lock." The attack also hit the lizard…

While at the same time, Bren gained a blank look for a few moments before saying, "Quickforce, Dispersion Blast!" The antelope-raven flew above Glowblade, and its horns glew before orbs of energy rained down on the black-and-yellow Monsuno.

That was the extra shove needed—as they watched, both Monsunos reverted into sparkling yellow essence, which shot into their cores.

Rogirek looked furious, while the white-haired teen simply looked shocked. Chase realized that he never heard the boy's name—but the four teens were already racing for the forest.

* * *

Once they were certain they were a safe distance away, they all stopped to call the three Monsunos back into their cores.

"You know, if that wasn't a totally over-the-top insane plan…well, I'd say that was fun," Jinja said.

"Yeah?" Chase questioned, eyes bright. He held up Lock's core. "You know, these guys are gonna make it a lot easier to find Sabriel and the others, I bet!"

"Speaking of…why _Lock_?" Dax asked, raising an eyebrow.

Chase shrugged. "Dunno. It just…came to me, I guess. What are you gonna call yours, Dax?"

"Huh." Dax looked his core over, and said, "Airswitch, I guess."

"Why?" Bren asked.

"It just…feels right."

"I think I'll call mine Charger," Jinja said. "Did you see the way he rammed that thing? It's perfect."

The group leader laughed. "You know what? I think this is gonna be one heck of an adventure!"

Despite his light outward mood, he still had a few thoughts that needed to be attended. Such as…why had that white-haired teen seemed so familiar, even though he was sure he'd never seen him before now?

Or…has he?

* * *

**Yes, a STORM version of Glowblade! You all should know who the controller is, as it is very obvious. Originally I had it planned on being Boost, but...well, a friend of mine suggested, and I used the idea. XD ~Myra**


	6. Chapter IV

It was a bright morning. Three people were literally climbing up the side of a building's wall…while another jumped up.

"She crazy!" one of the ones climbing—a thickset man with dark-brown hair wearing a red headband—said.

Another brown-haired man wearing a black hoodie said, "She's crazy? Don't forget, _we're_ the ones following her!"

The last one, a blond man wearing a green jacket, simply hung onto a rope tied to the first one for dear life.

The one who had jumped up—the only girl—gave a high-pitched laugh as the other three finally made it up. "Hurry little ones," she said. "You're missing the view from the top of the world."

"Climb more better twig-boy," the first man said. "I ain't no elevator."

The blond picked himself up right as his cellphone rang. "Mistress? Our elusive patron is calling," he said, throwing the phone to the only girl.

She answered. "Hello Medea," the voice on the other end said. "A little old lady in Axistown recently had a run-in with four new players on the scene. Four very…_important_ ones."

The lady frowned a bit at the image that came up on the phone. "Oh, they seem harmless. They're just children."

The man on the other end laughed. "Four mice for your claws, my dear. They're all of great interest to me, on many levels. Use your DarkSpin crew to find them, take them alive, and put them in cryofreeze…then, bring them _and_ their cores to me."

"Your dime, my pleasure," Medea replied.

* * *

The terrain certainly had become more rugged over the last few days. It was also getting chillier—prompting Bren to get a coat—a bright-green one. Chase, Jinja, Dax already had their own, thanks to Sabriel going out and getting them some new clothes.

_"Science Entry 248-14, Doctor Jeredy Suno, protocol 5: Proper Spin Technique. The range of launch spins seem only limited to the technique of the controller. Like fingerprints, each launch spin technique will ultimately be different. Through research, I've perfected my own style."_ The hologram the Core-Tablet was showing demonstrated. _"It incorporates a number of elements that I believe necessary to create a solid technique."_

Chase took out a blank core, and did his best to copy what the hologram had done. It looked a little similar…but like the recording had said, it had its own differences. The core knocked an empty soda can over, right between Jinja and Dax. The core bounced off of the can, hit an old tire, and rebounded back to him. He caught it. "Practice makes perfect!" he stated.

"You know, I think I'm starting to figure this thing out," Bren said, leaning back slightly against another tire—they were hiding out in an abandoned building. Recently that was their shelter-of-choice. "See, it has some sort of messaging system, almost like letters—but just images on the screen. Not to mention we can bring up a ton of different maps on it, and those files…"

It suddenly beeped, and the brown-haired teen stared at it. "…I think we have a message." He tapped a button—and froze.

"Who's it from?" Jinja asked, looking curious.

"Sabriel!"

"_What?!_" They all crowded around to read it.

_"To my little dears: I know you're all very worried about us, and likely wondering why we left. I will explain it to you as soon as possible—I'm actually very close to where you are at the moment. Here is a map…"_

"She's close to here!" Bren exclaimed, looking ecstatic. "Can we go there now?"

"Hold on, B," Chase said, looking suspicious. "How does Sabriel know we have this thing…?"

"Does it matter?!" Dax asked. "She's close by!"

"Not to mention," Chase went on, glaring a bit. "That's an hour away—it'll be pitch-dark way before then, since it's already sundown. She'll be there in the morning—we'll go first thing."

Bren frowned, and tapped a few random keys on the Core-Tablet—and gasped. "Found another Monsuno file," he said, and they looked.

"The attack gauge on the core is for use by controllers during Monsunos to more effectively…" Jinja started, trailing off. "Combat training," she summed up. "We know this already."

"To a degree," Chase corrected. "This'll help, big-time."

* * *

A few hours later, Bren opened his eyes and looked around. Dax was snoring loudly, and neither Chase nor Jinja had complained for thirty minutes—they were all _definitely_ out of it entirely.

As quietly as he could, he stood and put his jacket on and put Quickforce's core in his pocket. He knew he was doing the opposite of what Chase had said, but he just _really_ wanted to see Sabriel—and he wanted to show her Quickforce. He paused, and quietly turned the Core-Tablet on, looking at the map. After committing it to memory, he turned it off again, and went out.

* * *

Luckily it wasn't _entirely _dark—there was a half-moon as well as the stars. Eventually he came to a large warehouse—the "X" on the map.

He went in. "Sabriel?" he called. There was a shuffling sound, and he saw a shadow move down a hall. He immediately went after it, and followed it around a corner—only to have someone punch his lights out.

* * *

"Chase, Bren's gone!"

"_What_?!" He sat up immediately at hearing Jinja's exclaim. He looked to the side to see that his younger brother was indeed gone. He knew where. "You guys don't think…?"

"Yeah…" Dax said. "Glasses probably went to find Sabriel."

Jinja looked at the Core-Tablet. "What stinks is that he's the only one that knows how to use that thing…"

Chase picked the Core-Tablet up, experimentally pressing a few keys. After a minute, he managed to bring the map up.

Dax looked it over, and said, "I bet we can get there in ten minutes if Airswitch gets the lead out."

"Alright, let's go find him," Chase said. "Before someone else does…"

* * *

Bren opened his eyes. Where was he again…? That's right—he went to find Sabriel, and someone had—

A small laugh made him glance to the side—someone was there. It was a black-haired woman wearing a black outfit with a red trim. "On your feet, boy. You're to be tested in the only game worth playing. Life or death."

Bren stood, swallowing hard and trying to repress any fear. "Where. Is. Sabriel?" he asked, emphasizing each word—although his pitch wavered a bit.

"Ooh, such spirit! A good virtue to have. _Sabriel _is here…you can see her, and you can even take her with you." She threw something to him—Quickforce's core. The woman held up a red core. "That is, if you can beat me. I have been searching for someone worthy of my time—you see, it's all about dueling…to win the ultimate victory, or perish in glory. The duel is _everything!_"

Bren decided then and there that she was crazy—just his luck. "I don't really know what you mean by that, but—Sabriel means a whole lot to me! Quickforce, launch!"

The weird lady followed up: "Poisonwing, launch!"

The cores collided in a flash of red and blue. Quickforce screeched loudly in a threatening manner at Poisonwing, which was a crimson cobra.

He noted that, out of the corner of his eye, there were three guys watching. He noted that they had red cores as well before returning his attention to the battle.

The two Monsunos warily circled each other, each looking for an opening to strike. Poisonwing lunged forward, and Quickforce skittered back before attempting to ram his opponent—Poisonwing got out of the way barely in time. Then the Monsuno struck Quickforce across the face with its tail.

"My darling, so perfect!" the crazy lady cooed. Most likely to her Monsuno.

Bren swallowed. Quickforce was hardly a match to Poisonwing—he was getting thrown around, literally. "Quickforce, Dispersion Blast!" he ordered.

His Monsuno's horns glew, and multiple orbs of energy shot at Poisonwing—most, if not all, were direct hits. "Learning new tricks, are we?" Crazy-Lady asked rhetorically. "That's a good boy."

Bren then knew why Poisonwing was named so—it had dragonfly wings.

* * *

"Tch. The kid's worthless to us dead!" Telegonus exclaimed. "Arg, the cryofreezer—put 'im on ice! Now's our chance."

"Don't need chance," Argius rumbled. "Got me."

* * *

Bren had overheard the conversation, luckily. "Quickforce, Blind Wing!" he said quickly. The antelope-raven's wings suddenly let out a blinding burst of light which left bright afterimages, allowing him to race down the nearest hallway eve after calling his Monsuno back. The lady screamed in frustration. "After him!" she shrieked.

* * *

Bren kept running. He had to find an exit…

He yelped when someone grabbed his arm and pulled him into a room. "Surprise," Jinja said.

"Lemme guess—couldn't sleep?" Dax asked.

Chase, however, had a totally different reaction. "Bren, what the krag you thinking?" he exclaimed. "Are you crazy?! I thought something might've happened to you. I—"

The glasses-wearing teen impulsively flinched back. "S-Sorry," he stammered. "I didn't—mean to scare you guys…"

The others paused. Then Jinja hit Chase on the shoulder. "Now look what you did!" she said angrily.

The raven-haired teen looked chastised before saying, "Sorry about that, B. I was just…freaking out a bit."

"I get it. I was looking for Sabriel."

"Knew that already," Dax said.

Cue four-way group hug. At least, until a voice called, "Come out, little boy…we haven't finished our battle yet."

"Who's she?" Jinja asked.

"Don't know," Bren responded. "She has one of those freaky red Monsunos, though."

* * *

In the hall, Medea slammed Telegonus against the wall. "Our battle wasn't finished," she said in a dangerously quiet voice.

"M-Medea, I was just getting a bit impatient—I was worrying you'd kill the kid—we'd get chewed out big-time—!"

"Kid ain't far," Argius said.

"Big-'n'-Dense is right, mistress," Latinus said. "It would take hours for him to find his way out of this maze."

Medea let Telegonus go, who said, "He's right—let's just firebomb the place…smoke the brat out."

"Use Monsuno—tear down every wall here. Nowhere to hide," Argius stated bluntly.

"Huh…blunderous," Latinus muttered. "Our Mistress-Queen likes to _savor_ her moments. Why use brute force when we still have the guardian—Sabriel?"

"Lat, my evil darling," Medea purred. "Do go on."

* * *

"Sabriel's here somewhere," Bren said. "We need to find her and rescue her."

"I agree, but…is it real?" Chase asked. Everyone looked at him.

"Excuse me?" Jinja repeated, looking disbelieving.

"I mean, we don't know if it's real or not. You know how Sabriel doesn't use computers that much."

"That's true," Dax muttered. "Only Belgaer really used 'em."

"Still, we don't know for sure," Bren persisted. After a few moments, Chase sighed. "Alright…you can go look. If you're not back in five minutes, we're coming to you, though."

* * *

Bren walked into an open room—back of the warehouse. If Sabriel was somewhere in here—it'd be this room. But he didn't see anyone.

Then he heard the crazy-lady speak up. "To use the missing guardian as bait…imagine that." She came out from a shadowed portion of the room.

"Where's Sabriel?" Bren demanded, frustration overpowering fear. "She was never here. The name _Sabriel _means nothing to me—I've never even heard of the name before now. But…she was quite useful as a worm dangling from a hook." The brown-haired teen felt as if someone had dropped a stalactite on his head. _It _was _a fake! _he thought, horrified.

"You're all so naïve," Medea went on. "One little fake message, and you come like moths to a flame." Bren twitched in anger, and took out Quickforce's core. This time it's a fight to the finish—not interrupted, like last time."

Without warning, he spun out his Monsuno _hard _and _fast_. Medea barely had any time at all to send out Poisonwing in retaliation, and there was a flash of red-blue light.

The red snake wrapped its tail around Quickforce's head and slammed it onto the ground. After that it took flight, spitting another purple spike at the antelope-raven, who managed to get out of the way in time. "Fanged Attack!" Medea said.

Poisonwing lunged…but before it could make contact, Quickforce put a shield up, stopping it short. "Never underestimate an opponent," Bren said, reciting what Belgaer always said. "Something I forgot to tell you, boy," Medea said. "I don't like losing. So sometimes if the moment calls for it…I cheat!"

As if on cue, the three other guys—Latinus, Telegonus, and Argius—all spun out a core as well.

The cores slammed into each other in a blinding flash of red light. Bren knew he was in big trouble now…or was he? Hadn't five minutes gone by now…?

He gave a small half-smile. "I probably should've said I wasn't alone either." No sooner did he finish his sentence did a portion of the wall get blown open, revealing Chase, Jinja, and Dax—along with their Monsunos.

"Someone call for backup?" Jinja asked no one in particular.

"'Cause we're it!" Dax added.

"Lock, get 'em!" Chase shouted, and his Monsuno growled.

Needless to say, things got hectic _fast_! Airswitch and Charger were handling the three others inside the building, while Lock and Quickforce were facing off against Poisonwing outside. "Stasis Sting!" Medea shouted, and again Poisonwing shot that strange purple spike from its mouth—this time towards Lock.

"Elemental Armor!" Chase said quickly, and just in time—the shield disintegrated the spike. He followed up with "Power Harness!"

Bren followed up: "Light Barrage!"

Needless to say…it was overkill. Poisonwing didn't stand a chance. "What in the world?!" Medea exclaimed, looking honest-to-goodness shocked. "I…lost!"

As if in reply, Lock gave a victorious roar, while Quickforce let out a screech. Inside, the fight had quickly turned to the siblings' side. It wasn't long until Moonfire, Spiderwolf, and Spikebat were all sent back into their cores. Their controllers ran out immediately after, looking beat—literally.

"Letting me down, boys!" Medea scolded.

"Sorry…Your Majesty," Latinus panted.

Chase and Bren turned to see Jinja and Dax walk out, although they were coughing a bit from dust and all that stuff. "Guys, you're alright!" Chase exclaimed, running toward them. Again, a four-way group hug.

"Piece of cake," Jinja said in an it-was-no-problem tone.

"Let's get out of here—Lock, return!"

The others did as such also. But right as they were about to get running, Medea spoke up. "Boys, wait." She threw some sort of device towards them. Here little ones—for giggles. You've earned it."

That, unfortunately, wasn't the end of it. She then blew a kiss at them. All four teens gagged.

* * *

"That was just messed up. Just—_wrong_," Dax said for the seventh time.

"I second that emotion!" Bren agreed.

"You know what—here B, you keep it." Chase tossed the item towards Bren. "You're better with this stuff than we are."

* * *

Later, they stopped at a roadside. "I've been doing a little tinkering on this thing," Bren said. "You wouldn't believe what I found on it!"

"What?" Jinja asked.

"Just listen."

He tapped a key, and three…videos…came up. Of course, it was Jeredy Suno—they'd been seeing a lot of him for some reason on these videos. _"Jon, I'm suggesting we shut this entire Monsuno operation down. It's far too dangerous."_ Chase tilted his head slightly. _Jon…wasn't he that blond-haired guy in STORM that I fought the night we saved Quickforce…?_

_"How did Charlemagne find out about that? The experiment wasn't even half finished—I hadn't filed my report! I don't think this line is secure anymore…meet me at the following coordinates…"_

So on and so forth.

"Who's…?" Dax started, and then he shook his head. "I'm not even gonna _try_ to pronounce that."

"Charlemagne," Chase said, sounding out each syllable. "Something tells me…whoever it is, he or she's important."

* * *

**Might be a while before I get the next chapter up...I'm actually going to skip what would be "Knowledge", as I have zero idea on how I'm supposed to write it without Beyal.  
**

**On a random note, finally got the game Monster Hunter 3. Both my sister and I already fear the Lagiacrus... (I recommend looking up a picture.)**

**~Myra  
**


	7. Chapter V

**Yes, I finally got off my lazy tail to finish this. ~Myra **

* * *

"Why can't snow be warm?" Jinja complained loudly.  
"Heard you there." Dax agreed.  
"I can't believe you two letting a little cold bother you," Chase said.  
"Yeah," Bren agreed. "It's not _too_ bad."  
A few moments later he had been hit in the back of the head by a snowball, and both Jinja and Dax were laughing.  
"So that's how you guys wanna play, huh?" Chase said, teal eyes glinting mischievously.  
A snowball fight quickly commenced, the four teens not noticing the imminent danger approaching. At least, until they heard a voice shout, "You kids stay right there!"  
They froze, and turned to see three STORM Elites racing towards them. "Oh great," Dax muttered, taking out Airswitch's core.  
"Get ready, guys," Chase said, taking out Lock's core. Bren got Quickforce out and Jinja took out Charger. The fight immediately began.

* * *

"It is good that you have succeeded," the elderly monk said. "If I may request, could you keep those until you find the five?"  
The man he was speaking to nodded, and put the three cores in his jacket packed before turning to make his leave.  
He had to keep searching.

* * *

'Are we ever gonna be able to catch a break?' Jinja thought wearily as Charger rammed against Crossbolt—a STORM Monsuno that was a cross between a boar and an armadillo.  
"I don't know about you guys, but I'd kill for a train to the nearest town right now!" Bren shouted, right before being tackled to the ground by Dax in order to avoid an attack from Skysite—a Monsuno that looked like a flying snake with _four_ heads.  
"Watch it!" the dark-skinned teen scolded before turning his attention back to his Monsuno. "Sonic Screech!" The sound-wave attack hit Skysite head-on.  
Then something caught Jinja's attention. "UH…big problem!" Bren shouted, also seeing it. There was a swarm of black…things…coming toward them.  
"Oh, you've _got_ to be KIDDING me!" Chase exclaimed, frustrated. It was a metaphorical ton of Hoppers and other airborne transports.  
The raven-haired teen went stiff, and then said, "I have an idea! Dax, get Airswitch to knock off a bunch off of that mountain!"  
"Right! Airswitch, Hurriclaw!"  
Chase followed up: "Lock, Jaw of Light!"  
Both attacks struck, knocking loose a few tons of rock and snow—which tumbled into the valley the oncoming STORM vehicles were in.  
The other two were shell-shocked-silent. "Okay, let's go!" Chase said quickly.

* * *

As soon as the Cloud-Hopper landed, Trey asked, "Have you found them?"  
"No sir," a soldier reported. "There's no sign of them."  
"Well, find them!" Rogirek snapped. "No one's getting in or out of these mountains!"

* * *

"This is bad," Bren said, squinting to see. "Very, very, _very_ bad. They've blocked off a whole section of mountains! There's no way we can leave Mandala with those things there!"  
"Not if we go around it," Chase said. "It has to end somewhere."

* * *

Later, they inched slowly along a small ledge. Bren stiffened when the ledge crumbled slightly beneath him. "Do we have to go this way?! Why can't we use the Monsunos?"  
"Keep moving, Bren. We can't use the Monsunos—it'd be a dead-giveaway," Jinja said.  
After the ledge came a bridge. "You have got to be kidding," Dax deadpanned.  
"This is the only route that goes this way," Chase said. He took one step—and the plank he stepped on snapped. "Uh…just watch your step."  
"Chase," Jinja started. "There's normal-crazy, then there's you-crazy, and then…there's where you are now! _Beyond_ crazy!"  
Chase looked at her. "One rotten plank and you guys are all weak in the knees. Come on!"  
"He's startin' to scare me," Dax said quietly.  
Jinja shook her head. "C'mon," she said, and they started. Something made her glance up—and she was glad she did. "_Look out_!"  
They were then fired upon by two aircraft that resembled birds, making the bridge swing dangerously, almost knocking them clean off. "Guys," Chase said, getting another crazy idea. "Let go!"  
"What?" the others exclaimed. "Are you crazy?!" Bren asked.  
"Truthfully, I'm starting to think that myself. But just—do it!" They all did as such. And as they were falling, Chase spun Lock out. The polar-bear Monsuno smashed the fighter-crafts right as the five teens hit the water. "Way to go Lock!" The pilots were effectively stuck—and alive, luckily. "Return!" He then realized something else. "Aw krag, we're going the wrong way!"  
"I was about to say that," Jinja muttered. "And this water's freezing!"  
"Uh, Princess?" Dax started, sounding nervous. "That's not the only thing…"  
"What?"  
"Look!"  
They saw the waterfall a bit too late.

* * *

Thankfully the drop wasn't too-too bad. Still hurt seriously on impact, but nothing was broken. It was a good thing there was a small cavern behind the waterfall as well. "At least they didn't see us," Jinja said, looking out at the rather-large group of STORM troops. "It's good this cave was here."  
"Yeah," Chase said, ringing his jacket out. "Maybe we should spend the night here. It'll be easier to hide if it's really early and still dark."

* * *

Like the plan, they woke up a bit before dawn. It had begun to snow quite a bit. "Alright, we'll tackle the blockade right there," Chase said, pointing at the map.  
"Are you crazy?!" Bren immediately shouted. "We could be captured, or worse—killed! How'll we find Sabriel and the others _then_?!"  
"I know it sounds like that B," Chase admitted. "But it's the only way! It's dangerous, but it's our best option."

* * *

The part of the blockade they were charging was a bit of a valley between a high cliff and a steep drop. "Every unit is on the field, sir!" a soldier reported. "No gaps or breaks present in the line!"  
No sooner did the soldier finish his sentence did an explosion sound. Both Trey and Rogirek flinched, and ran out…and were in for a big surprise.  
Lock literally punched through one H-Tram, while Airswitch clawed another open. Near the flames, Quickforce landed. "Great, it's working!" Chase exclaimed. "We have to get through!"  
As they flew over, Chase and Dax called their Monsunos back. They would have kept going…if Trey was standing there along with Rogirek, extremely-ticked looks on both their faces. "You punks aren't going anywhere!" Trey shouted.  
"Sorry, but it's sorta a requirement," Chase said, taking Nitestone's core out and leaping down along with Jinja, who had Whipper ready.  
In response to the obvious challenge, both commanders took their cores out and spun them out. Chase and Jinja followed up immediately.  
The four cores collided in a burst of light. Nitefang hissed a challenge and advanced slowly. Nitestone snarled and circled around. "Ballistic Repeater!" Trey ordered, and his Monsuno immediately followed suit.  
Jinja intervened: "Deflector Frill!" The attack bounced back at Riccoshot, which dropped, paralyzed. "Shade Shriek!" Rogirek shouted. The komodo-dragon/bat hybrid let out a piercing call.  
"Prism Shield!" Chase said quickly while covering his ears. His Monsuno blocked most of the attack in time—still took some damage. Retaliation time: "Firespear Barrage!"  
The attack hit both STORM Monsunos head-on. Jinja followed up: "Whipper, Sonic Blast!" Amazingly, that strike sent both Nitefang and Riccoshot back into their cores. Neither of their controllers looked too happy about that development.  
Before anything else could happen, however, a new voice cut in: "Stand down, commanders." Chase and Jinja both looked up.  
"Commandant-Marshal Charlemagne, I didn't know you were coming out here…" Trey exclaimed, looking surprised. 'So that's Charlemagne?' Chase thought, slightly surprised that it was a girl. 'Wait…I've seen her before too!' The amber eyes were a dead giveaway.  
"Yes," Rogirek said nonchalantly. "Normally you hate cold weather." At that, she glared at him a bit before looking at the two teenagers.  
It was silence for a minute. "So," she started. "Chase, is it?"  
He was puzzled. "What of it?" he asked.  
She looked like she was going to say something, and then paused, clearly rethinking it. Then she said, "You've given my men quite zhe adventure. But zhis party is over." She held up a core.  
"If you're saying that, you've got another thing coming," Jinja shot back.  
Without warning, she threw the core…upwards. As they watched, the Commandant-Marshal actually used a whip to spin the core out.  
The core tapped against a rock, and there was a flash of yellow. The Monsuno that appeared looked like a lion…with some pretty cool-looking blades on it.  
"Driftblade, clear the room," the amber-eyed woman ordered calmly. Immediately Driftblade shot a blast of electricity at their Monsunos. Nitestone leaped to the side and Whipper tried to deflect it—which failed. The frilled-lizard Monsuno fell to the ground.  
"That thing is—it's…" Chase stammered.  
"Fast," Jinja finished, her eyes wide. "We need to be more careful."  
"Chase, Jinja!" they heard Bren shout. "We're coming to help!"  
Quickforce put itself between Nitestone and Driftblade's oncoming attack, putting up a shield. It held, but it obviously was tiring.  
"I see you have more company," Charlemagne observed. "Still, you cannot win. Driftblade, Burst Barrage!" she ordered. The Monsuno moved at a blinding speed, knocking all of the Monsunos aside. 'This isn't good,' Chase thought, wincing. 'We better scram…but how can we distract them?'  
The distraction came from an unexpected source—namely, a loud, scary-sounding roar that echoed throughout the valley, and the snow suddenly picked up more.  
Everyone was looking around warily—but the two teens were quick to snap out of it, and climbed onto Quickforce. They were airborne immediately…and Chase could have sworn he saw a Monsuno-sized shadow pass over the valley, snow swirling around it.

* * *

A few minutes of silence passed. Then Trey said, "Whatever that was, it's gone now…along with the rogue controllers."  
Charlemagne didn't respond, not paying attention. She had heard that roar before. Almost twenty-six years ago, but she remembered it like last night. "Well, you seem distracted," Rogirek noted.  
She didn't pay attention to that either. She was certain now—that was _definitely_ Jeredy's son. But what about the other four? She'd have to look into it…

* * *

In the Lowlands, a young woman with pale-brown hair and light-purple eyes picked up her phone. "What's up?" she asked.

"Of course.

"You've told me that a million times Jeredy. There's nothing you could've done for me then."

"Honestly, I sorta like this ability! It's nice to know what Featherfang's feeling. And it gives me a heads-up on when not to bother you.  
There was silence on the other end. Lilac knew she hit a nerve there. "Um…sorry."

"Alright then. Talk to you later."

* * *

While on a bus heading into the Lowlands, the man looked out. It had been a slight hassle getting through the STORM blockade, but he had managed to keep the cores out of sight, and gotten by. The sun was just starting to come up, but he could still see the stars.  
For some reason…Yrael had a feeling he'd be seeing Chase and the others soon. _Very_ soon.


	8. Chapter VI

Jinja was quick to decide that she didn't like the Lowlands too much. One, it was hot. Two, it was very hot. Three, it was _extremely_ hot!

"Still don't know why you guys hate it," Dax muttered. "Doesn't bother me that much."

"Yeah, because you're weird like that," Bren said smugly. Dax promptly punched his shoulder. "Ow!"

"Cut it out you two," Chase said, looking at the map on the Core-Tablet. "We're almost at Sanctuary City." He muttered "finally" under his breath. They were currently on a bus, with lots of other people. Cue slight claustrophobia.

All passengers gave startled exclaims when the bus tipped to one side—they were on a narrow cliff-ledge road. "You know," Bren started. "I actually liked Mandala better!"

Suddenly the driver screamed a bit, and hit the brakes—hard.

They were all lurched forward and tossed to the side as the bus skidded to a halt and spun a bit. Everyone else ran off of the bus. And no sooner did the five teenagers pick themselves up did some old guy come onto the bus. "Hello children," he greeted. "I have a message for you from my employer. He wishes to invite you to meet with him as his guest, Chase…" He seemed like he was about to add something, but stopped himself. Instead, he said, "Ah yes…I should allow the good doctor to have the pleasure of speaking with you himself." He held up a small device which flashed, and suddenly there was a hologram of a bald man wearing a black suit there. He bowed a bit before speaking.

_"Chase, I am pleased that you have finally come to the Lowlands. My name is Doctor Emmanuel Klipse. I was a…_colleague_ of Jeredy Suno."_

"We're listening," Chase said, looking not really interested.

_"Of course, as soon as STORM put their hands on my experiment, I decided to take my research elsewhere. I tried to convince my _dear_ friend to come with me, but he refused. He thought he could do some good from the inside." _Klipse clenched a fist. _"He was wrong."_

"Ah, this is a great story and all, but…why are you telling us this?" Chase asked.

_"Forgive my manners. We have much to discuss. I would like you both to join me…for some tea."_ Turning his attention to the creepy guy, he said, _"Hargrave, give them the invitation."_

"It would be my pleasure, Doctor Klipse," he replied. One of the weird mech-arms on his backpack-thing extended and handed Chase a red envelope of some kind. Chase immediately ripped it open and studied the black card inside, the others crowding around to look.

"What the krag is that long number?" Dax asked no one in particular.

_"Surely you understand my need for secrecy,"_ Klipse said. _"Decipher the code, and don't be late. I do not tolerate lateness,"_ he growled. And then the hologram vanished.

"He's menacing, and has manners," Jinja commented.

"Yeah…quite the combination," Chase said.

Hargrave sniffed suddenly. "Ugh…I highly recommend you…_freshen up_ before showing yourselves," he remarked. "Dress as casual, but not _this_ casual. Now, if you will excuse me…"

Before any of them could process it, one of the mech-arms he had flipped and cut a hole in the bus's roof, allowing him to get out through the top. As they ran out, they saw his mech-arms allowing him to maneuver up the cliff.

"Emmanuel Klipse and Hargrave…" Chase mused.

"Can we trust them?" Jinja asked.

"No idea."

"Look at the bright side!" Bren put in. "At least you get free tea out of the deal."

"Bren? I think you forgot that I HATE tea."

"Maybe they'll have coffee," Jinja said with a shrug.

"Maybe."

* * *

Finally they made it to the nearest town—called Sanctuary City.

After a coughing fit caused by blowing dust, Chase simply said, "Nice," in a sarcastic tone.

"Ditto," Bren muttered. "Where can I find me a shower?"

"And a change of clothes," Jinja added, looking wistful. "We're all starting to stink."

"Good luck with that, guys," Chase said. "Obviously whoever named this place 'Sanctuary City' didn't know the meaning of the word _city_. Or _sanctuary_, for that matter."

"Exactly!" Dax agreed.

"I was thinking," Bren started, changing the subject. "If Klipse worked with Doctor Suno, then maybe there's something on him in the Core-Tablet?" He took said device out. "Let me see…yeah, right here!"

A recording started. _"Doctor Klipse's research into genetic sequencing for Monsuno DNA has been invaluable. His knowledge is impressive…as it always has been. But he is as ambitious as he is intelligent—a fact I have always been aware of ever since I first met him. And experience has taught me to be wary of ambitious men…"_ The recording cut off in static.

"What the—?" Bren tapped on it a few times. "Heat must be screwing it up…"

"At least we know _something_ about the guy," Jinja said.

"Yeah…and it sounds like those two knew each other from before all this," Chase added.

Dax's attention was elsewhere. "Hey, could we get some grub? I'm starved!"

"Sure…if we can find a—oh!" He ran for a small restaurant, others hot on his heels. But as soon as they got in, a crucial fact hit them—they were out of money.

"Well that's just great," Jinja grumbled.

"Don't worry about that," a voice said. They looked to see a young woman with long brown hair tied up with a white ribbon, and had lavender eyes. She was wearing a dark-blue shirt with two light-blue stripes crossing each other vertically and horizontally, and a dark-blue skirt with a purple frill. She was also wearing pink sandals, and no socks. "I'll buy one for each of you."

"Uh, thanks!" Chase said, glad that they'd finally met someone nice.

"Six please!" she said to the chef, who nodded and took the pay. _Six?_ To a person wearing a black cloak, she said, "How can you stand wearing that?"

The person didn't reply, instead moving his hand in a few signals. Thing was…Chase knew what he was saying: _"I'm fine with it."_

"No way…" Bren whispered, eyes widening. Jinja frowned slightly, and, without warning, pulled the guy's hood down. Chase immediately went slack-jawed, along with Dax. Bren gasped.

"_Yrael_!" Jinja exclaimed, looking ecstatic. The 23-year-old turned his head, his blue eyes wide in shock when he saw them. Then he grinned widely—only to flinch as Chase suddenly pounced on him in a hug.

"I can't believe we found you!" he exclaimed, feeling tears forming.

Yrael smiled. "What happened?" Dax immediately asked, clearly trying to hide the fact that he was crying a little as well. "Seriously? And—where are the other three?!"

At that, their geography-teacher flinched, paling simultaneously. _"Later,"_ he signed.

Chase frowned, and turned to the woman who bought them food. "Um, what's your name?" he asked, curious.

She facepalmed. "Shoot, how could I forget? My name's Lilac—Lilac Marvell. What're yours?" They introduced themselves in turn…but Chase saw her eyes widen when he said his name. "Ch-Chase?!" she exclaimed, looking startled.

"What?" he asked, profoundly confused.

She blinked a few times, and shook her head. "It—it's nothing. Sorry about that…"

Clearly, she was hiding something there. Chase failed to notice the blue core with purple grips that she had clipped to her belt.

* * *

They said goodbye to Lilac, and headed out to the coordinates—Yrael accompanying them, of course. Everyone's moods had lifted now that they had found one of their four caregivers.

_"Is this it?"_ Yrael asked.

"Should be," Bren responded. "It's either right here at precisely 3:27 PM…or three-thousand miles in that direction at 4:15 in the morning in the year 1596." Everyone gave him a deadpan look.

"There's clearly nothing he—" Chase cut himself off as he very suddenly found himself falling. _An elevator?_ He was baffled.

When the elevator his bottom, he was greeted by Hargrave. "3:27 precisely," he said. "Doctor Klipse will be pleased."

They went onto another elevator-thing that went horizontal instead of vertical. "What _is_ this place, anyways?" Chase asked, looking around in awe.

"_This_ is one of our Eklipse mining facilities," Hargrave explained. "For retrieving Monsuno essence from deep underground."

Chase turned his head. "You're mining Monsuno essence?"

"Yes…the Lowlands, Gogekka Province, and Alto Desert are particularly rich in it. Doctor Klipse believes that these areas may have been primary meteor-impact zones."

Chase gasped suddenly when they reached a door that opened automatically. He quickly regained composure. "Doctor Klipse? We decoded your invite," he said proudly.

As if he hadn't spoken, Klipse merely said, "Care for some tea?"

"I didn't come here to socialize," the raven-haired teen deadpanned. "Actually, I don't think you told me _exactly_ why you wanted to see me."

"I wanted to know if you could assist me in finding Jeredy Suno," Klipse said smoothly. "My work with Monsuno genetics has reached a critical stage. I would like to consult with him on a few things." He opened a case that was on the table—revealing six red cores.

"These are yours?" Chase asked, feeling shocked. "The red ones?" It quickly turned to anger. "Y-You're the one who's behind the Underground! DarkSpin, too!"

Klipse had an explanation. "I sell my Eklipse cores to…well, anyone who will pay. What they do with their Monsunos has nothing to do with me. Monsuno research is costly…your father chose to get his funding from STORM." Chase could barely detect bitterness in his voice…at something. "I have to get my funding from…_other_ sources.

"The only thing that truly matters is our work with Monsunos." He stood and started toward a computer of some kind. "That's why I need to find Jeredy. I've narrowed down my search, yet I've still been unable to locate him." There was a pause. "But I found someone who _can _find him." A picture showed up on a monitor…of someone Chase knew. "Someone by the name of Lilac Marvell. Find her…we find Jeredy."

"…I know where she is…"

"Well Chase…do we have an _understanding_, then?"

"I guess…" He had some weird feeling that something was…_off_ with Klipse.

* * *

"…fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty!" Jinja counted, looking at the watch Yrael gave her. "That's it—I'm going after him."

But no sooner did she say that did Chase suddenly reappear, getting them all to flinch. "Hey guys!" Chase greeted. "Okay—bad news is, I just made a deal with the devil…but the good news is, it's one that can help us."

"A deal with K-K-Klipse?" Bren stuttered. The others looked uncertain.

_"I don't think that's a good idea,"_ Yrael signed, frowning.

"Don't worry," Chase said. "It'll be fine."

* * *

"Are you _sure_ we should be teaming up with that _child_, sir?" Hargrave asked dubiously.

"We _aren't_, you fool. The instant Jeredy, Chase, and those other brats lose their worth, I will crush them."

* * *

"Hey Lilac?" Chase started, going into the restaurant.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Do you know where anyone named 'Jeredy' is?" Jinja asked with a raised eyebrow.

Before Lilac could respond, a voice behind them said, "Yes…do tell us." _Klipse!_

Lilac immediately looked a mixture of angry…and absolutely terrified. "Klipse!" she exclaimed shrilly, taking out a _blue core_. In response, Klipse took out a red one.

"_Wait a minute_!" Chase shouted.

"Featherfang, launch!" Lilac shrieked.

"Backslash, launch!" Klipse shouted.

The cores collided inside of the building. It suddenly became very crowded inside of the restaurant as a Monsuno resembling a wolf materialized…though it had a beak, three beautiful plumes on its head, as well as—a peacock tail.

A red cloud of essence, meanwhile, shot outside. The ground outside was actually torn up a little by the burst of energy. And standing where it materialized was a Monsuno that was covered in dark-purple/black fur, had dark-gray spikes on it shoulders and back, and red eyes and claws. It roared loudly, sounding like a high-pitched wolf howl mixed with a grizzly-bear's roar, shattering all glass in the area—even cracking Bren's glasses a bit.

"What _is _that thing?!" Dax exclaimed.

Bren, simultaneously, exclaimed, "Aw krag, my glasses cracked!"

"Fire and brimstone…with claws!" Jinja responded to Dax.

Featherfang raced outside—and Backslash jumped in a blur and tried to claw it. The wolf-peacock dodged in a blur.

Then Backslash was suddenly behind Featherfang and knocked the wolf-peacock into a building. Klipse chuckled. "Perfect. Backslash, Shock Shriek!"

The wolf-bear hybrid charged up an orb of red energy in his mouth and shot it at Featherfang—direct hit. The Monsuno was sent back into its core.

"This—this is wrong. _Really_ wrong!" Chase exclaimed. He marched up to Klipse. "That's enough!" he said.

The bald scientist called his Monsuno back—but it appeared it was on his own accord. "It's time you tell us what you know," he growled to Lilac. "Where is Jeredy Suno?"

"Like I'd tell _you_ anything!" she spat.

"Fortunately…there are other ways to get you to speak," Klipse said. "Hargrave?"

Chase didn't know when the old guy was suddenly behind Lilac. "Now, now…tell Doctor Klipse what you know," he said.

"Are you bonkers?!" Dax exclaimed. "That's _way_ too far!"

"This—this is wrong!" Chase shouted. "Wrong, wrong, _wrong_!"

"Chase, didn't I tell you? I don't believe in right or wrong…I only believe in Monsunos," Klipse said without looking.

"Good—then believe in this one!" Chase shouted, taking out Lock's core. After running a safe distance away, he whirled and pitched the core like a baseball, saying, "Lock, launch!"

Klipse smirked before spinning out Backslash.

The two cores raced toward each other, but when they collided—Lock's core was actually sent flying, and caused him to materialize upside-down on a building. _Oh no!_

"We have to get in there!" Bren exclaimed. In response, the other three all spun their cores out—along with _Yrael_, although when he got a core Chase did not know. Airswitch immediately clawed Backslash on the head in order to stop it from doing the same to Lock's face.

"Quickforce, Dispersion Blast!" Bren commanded.

The antelope-raven shot multiple small orbs of blue energy at Backslash—direct hit…or so it seemed, as suddenly Backslash was behind Yrael's Monsuno—which resembled a cross between a baboon and a rat—and had picked him up by the tail and swung him into a building, immediately getting him to go back into his core. "That guy's Monsuno's really powerful!" Dax exclaimed.

"Five-on-one and we're _still_ losing?!" Bren exclaimed.

"We have to do something, and quick!" Jinja said. To Charger, she said, "Power Bash!" Unfortunately, Backslash merely jumped over it.

"Lock, get out of there!" Chase said. "Head for that clearing!"

The Monsuno did as such, as did the other three. But as they were running, Backslash suddenly appeared in front of Lock, slashed him in the face, and then did as such with the other three.

"Of course," Hargrave said. "Backslash is invincible." However the distraction proved painful, as Lilac took advantage and elbowed the old guy right in the gut.

"Do you all really think that Jeredy's unrefined Monsunos can hold a candle to my genetically-superior warrior?" Klipse teased.

Chase glared at him. "I had a feeling something was weird with you," he growled

"Perceptive of you," Klipse said sarcastically. "But having you all as prisoners will suit me just fine as of now…" What he said then shocked all of them. "…and then your father."

Feeling completely numb, Chase stammered, "Wh-Wha'…?"

Klipse ignored him, and yelled, "Backslash! Finish it!"

Backslash's spikes began glowing with red energy. All of a sudden, there was Airswitch, latched onto Backslash using Restraining Siege. "What?!" Klipse exclaimed, shocked.

"Hey Princess!" Dax said. "Have your Monsuno ram into him!"

"How's that supposed to help?!" Jinja shouted at him.

"We can knock 'im off that ledge!" He pointed, showing that Airswitch was trying to drag Backslash over to a cliff.

"Dax, you're a genius!" Bren exclaimed. The dark-skinned teen grinned in response.

"Alright," Jinja said. "Leave it to me!" She started toward her Monsuno—only to stop as a flash of red went off behind them. They all turned to see Hargrave standing by another Eklipse Monsuno.

"Please don't forget about me," Hargrave said. "Now, Shadowhornet, finish them!"

The Monsuno was all set to lunge at them—when Featherfang suddenly materialized in front of it. "Don't forget about _me_ either!" Lilac said. To the others, she said, "I'll handle this!"

"Thanks Lilac!" Jinja said before resuming her previous actions. Running toward her Monsuno, she shouted, "Charger, shove 'em off the cliff! Go!" Charger regarded her before charging up and head-bashing Backslash. To the others, Jinja said, "I need some help here!"

"Lock!" Chase called in response.

"Quickforce!" Bren added.

The two Monsunos charged in unison, slamming into Backslash…and just as they were falling, Airswitch let go and allowed Backslash to fall all the way to the bottom. And incredibly, the impact was enough to send it back to its core.

Looking murderous, Klipse turned to look at them. "You've all chosen a side in this war now," he snarled. "Unfortunately for you, it is the losing side."

"I'll take any side…as long as you're not on it!" Chase growled.

"Until we meet again…" He began walking away, Hargrave following—Shadowhornet had been sent back into its core because of Featherfang.

* * *

Later that evening, they all sat around a campfire. "Well…" Bren finally started. "At least—at least we know who your dad is. I mean, you even sort of look like him. A lot like him, actually."

Chase nodded slowly. "But we can't be sure…" He trailed off, looking at Yrael…who was whistling in an innocent manner. "Yrael?" he questioned.

The 23-year-old froze, and glanced quickly at all of them. All gave him suspicious looks. Then he sighed, and signed, _"Yes. Jeredy Suno is your father. And Lilac was the one who gave me my Monsuno—Babbeon."_

Chase felt like all the breath had been taken out of him. _My dad…he's out there somewhere! And—and Lilac knows where he is!_ "Did anyone see which way Lilac went?!" he asked immediately.

"Um, she went west from here," Bren started. "I'm pretty sure, anyways."

"Well, come on! Let's go find her!"


End file.
